Sing For Absolution
by Net Girl
Summary: Pre-series. Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine meet by chance and find a little enlightenment.


Rating: PG

Summary: Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine meet by chance and find a little enlightenment.

Spoilers: For "Ballad of Fallen Angels", session 5.

Disclaimer: Cowboy Bebop characters belong to Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment, Schinichiro Watanabe, et al., and their many, many well-paid lawyers.

Author's Notes: This was the answer to a fic challenge: "Two characters meet before canon says they do", so there will be no extension or follow-up pieces.

Questions, Comments, Suggestions: Send to All flames are read, laughed at then deleted with extreme prejudice.

"... there's nowhere left to hide

in noone to confide

the truth runs deep inside

and will never die ... "

- "Sing For Absolution", Muse

"Sing For Absolution"

Faye Valentine sighed as the door to the church confessional clanked shut and she closed her eyes. As usual, her lust for gambling had put her in hot water. The two goons her latest bookie sent after her weren't incredibly bright, thus, easy to lose.

"Are you in trouble?"

Faye's eyes opened when she heard a male voice on the opposite side of the partition. She could've sworn this place was abandoned. Apparently, she was mistaken.

"What makes you think that, Father?" She tried to see the man on the other side. Pointless. These boxes were made to hide the sinner from her confessor.

A laugh. "You're in a church, aren't you? People never come here, unless they're in need of an .... escape."

"You couldn't help me." The man didn't sound very old. She peered through the mesh screen again. "No priest can."

"What makes you think I'm a priest?"

"You're in a church, aren't you?"

"That doesn't mean I'm a priest any more than it means you're a nun."

Her eyes narrowed. She didn't care for the smart ass commentary from this stranger. "You were here first, and you didn't tell me right off, either." He wasn't a priest. So ... who was he?

"You're right. I was here first." Spike Spiegel pulled a lighter from his jacket pocket then lit the cigarette dangling between his lips. After taking a drag, he stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Why are you here, if not for confession?"

"Part of my job." He checked his watch. "However, if you feel the need to tell someone your sins, I have some time on my hands."

Faye glared at the figure in her 'window'. She sniffed the air, then asked, "Are you smoking?"

"And if I am?"

She smiled as she traced a finger along the window's wooden frame. "Since we're sharing this hiding spot, maybe we could share a smoke, too?"

"You're hiding, I'm not."

"What're you saying, then?"

"No."

She sighed as she leaned back against the wall and folded her arms across her chest. "The one thing I could use right now ... "

"I doubt a cigarette is what you could use right now."

"Excuse me?" Faye was almost on her feet, so she could step next door and punch this bastard in the face. But his short laugh kept her in her place.

"The trouble you're in, a cigarette won't help." He finished off his own, snuffed out the butt on the floor with his foot then checked his watch again. He'd been there for a half an hour waiting for this guy. Jet's anonymous tip must've been a bad one.

Faye scoffed. "What would you know about my problems?"

"Of all the buildings on this street, you chose this one."

She waited for elaboration. "And?" she prompted when none came.

"You had a reason. Maybe you don't know it, but you did." He stretched his arms over his head, locked them together behind it and let his eyelids close. He'd give this bounty-head five more minutes before he called it quits. Until then, he had someone to amuse him.

"It was abandoned. Or so I thought."

"You're a person who doesn't look for help."

"What makes you say that?"

"Every building on this block has at least one person inside of it. You picked the one you thought was empty." He lowered his arms and opened his eyes. "You said before no priest could help you. I would assume that applies to his boss as well."

"You read a lot into things, don't you?" Truth be told, he had a point. Still, she could handle it, she'd survived for almost three years by her own wits and luck.

"Maybe." He remembered the last time he'd been in this particular church. It'd been abandoned then, too. The interior bore scars of that day, yet no one would notice them unless he knew what to look for. "I found the solution to my problem here."

The change in the stranger's tone caught her attention. Slowly, she slid closer to the partition. "What did you find in a church?"

"Absolution."

"For what?"

"My life. There's a reason we met here and now."

She resisted the urge to point out they hadn't officially 'met'. She didn't know a damn thing about him, other than he was a smart-ass who liked to smoke in church. "And the reason is?"

"You didn't expect to find help here ... and you found me."

"You're the solution to my problems?" A few moments later, she leaned forward. "Hey ... are you still there?"

The sound of the door on the other side being kicked open made Faye jump back from the partition. One hand rested on the butt of her gun nestled safely in the holster under her red jacket as she listened to scuffle outside of the confessional. She jumped again when someone slammed against her door.

"What do you want from me?" demanded a new male voice.

"The 20 million woolong bounty on you is more than enough," Spike answered. Another bang against the door. "You're late, too."

Faye blinked. The man she'd been talking to was ... a cowboy? That explained his cocky attitude. Her eyes widened when another fight broke out between the bounty hunter and his target. In a matter of seconds, the distinct sound of a body hitting the floor ended the commotion.

She rose to her feet. Who had come out the winner? Was it the man she'd been speaking with or the one he'd been waiting for? She pushed on her door. It moved an inch. The fallen body kept her trapped inside of the confessional.

"Are you out there?" She heard the click of a lighter as it was opened and she smiled.

"I'm all right." Spike took a drag from his cigarette as he hauled the dazed bounty-head to his feet, then added, "Which is more than I can say for him."

Her palms flattened on the door but she didn't push it open.

"The rectory leads to the next block over," Spike said after a short silence. He grabbed the man by the back of his shirt and cast one last look at the confessional. "You'll be able to lose whoever's after you."

She peered through the small crack in the doorway. She couldn't see anything, except the cloud of smoke from his cigarette. "Thank you."

"Sometimes ... you find help when you were never searching for it."

"Maybe I'll return you the favor one of these days."

He chuckled as he guided the other man down the aisle. "I doubt it!"

Faye's eyes narrowed and she threw open the door. He was no longer by the confessional. Her hands rested on her hips and she glared at the retreating lanky man who wore an embarrassingly bad suit.


End file.
